Today in the Mission Yearbook - Called to teach

Iowa Sunday school joins with the Presbyterian Giving Catalog and ‘Educate a Child’ initiative to celebrate teachers

August 4, 2022

The Sunday school at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, holds a bake sale. (Photo courtesy of Gale Smetana)

Teaching has always been in Valerie Neubauer’s genes.

The retired high school Spanish and English teacher — who has also taught Sunday school for more than 50 years at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa — took a mere few years off from teaching at church only when her own children were high schoolers.

Those were different times.

“The last few years, like many mainline churches, we’ve had a huge decline in younger families, which means a dwindling in Sunday school numbers,” said Neubauer. “In fact, one year we went without a Sunday school entirely.”

That was when she and another of Westminster’s ruling elders, Jan Kosowski — who were both serving on the church’s Pastor Nominating Committee — had a moment of reckoning.

“When we found ourselves asking how in the world can we recruit a pastor without a Sunday school,” said Neubauer, “we took it upon ourselves to start it up again as its two lead teachers.”

And although it’s sometimes hard for them to find volunteer assistants for their one, broadly graded class of seven children — Neubauer’s husband, Loren, is a reliable substitute — what hasn’t been hard is getting the congregation’s full support.

Or its appreciation.

A sample of the six downloadable postcards that can be sent in appreciation for educators.

“Our energetic little class, which includes one Kenyan and two Ethiopian children, has worked their way into the hearts of the congregation,” Neubauer said. “Everything we ask them for, they willingly provide. Whether it’s fleece so that kids can make blankets for the homeless, or supplies for our sewing room, they come through for us.”

Recognizing that this has been a remarkably stressful season for educators, parents and children in public and church education alike, the Education Roundtable of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Presbyterian Giving Catalog are once again partnering to encourage pastors, church leaders and individuals to thank those in their congregations and communities who have been involved in education, especially during these difficult years of Covid.

The two ministries have collaborated to offer six colorful downloadable postcard-sized sayings, such as “You inspire me” and “The world is a better place because of you,” designed to send to educators.

Individuals and congregations can also make a gift in honor of educators through the Presbyterian Giving Catalog, perhaps selecting the Educate a Child item or choosing a different education item.

Now in its eighth year, the 2021–2022 Presbyterian Giving Catalog — which is available both in print and online, in English, Spanish and Korean — is filled with a wide variety of gifts that provide real and positive impact around the world, including aid for refugees, access to clean water and helping to end hunger.

Westminster Sunday school’s puppet ministry. (Photo courtesy of Gale Smetana)

“We decided to purchase items from the Presbyterian Giving Catalog last fall for a service project, since our class had been studying Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Jonah and the Big Fish, and Noah and the Ark,” said Neubauer. “It culminated with a picnic at the farm of a church member who has llamas and a peacock. The children enjoyed the study so much that the Giving Catalog project grew out of it.”

To raise money for their favorite Giving Catalog animals, the children of Westminster introduced their project during a children’s message in November 2021. For the next two weeks following worship, they pasted photos of their favorite animals on jars, and offered plastic Covid card holders to anyone who made a donation.

Neubauer said that what’s key for the congregation’s spiritual growth is to find ways for the generations to interact.

“In trying to design a curriculum to fit our class, I hit upon the idea of using puppets,” said Neubauer. “I purchased three puppet families — one white, one Black and one Hispanic/Latino. I also purchased Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Noah and John the Baptist, adding a camel and a donkey for the Christmas story. These puppets have served us well.”

Introducing their puppet ministry during the children’s message has been instrumental in helping the Westminster Sunday school to make powerful and lasting intergenerational connections.

“We make sure to involve the congregation in our activities,” Neubauer said. “Since most of our congregation is older, they love seeing the children in church. We get constant feedback on how much the children’s message touches the adults.”

Emily Enders Odom, Mission Interpretation Strategist, Mission Engagement and Support, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Cherrie Burch, Senior Accounting Clerk, Presbyterian Foundation
Becky Burton, Data Representative, Relationship & Development Operations, Mission Engagement & Support, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Spirit of the Living God, wrap us in your love and make us one. Amen.

Ministry Matters - It begins with us, part 2 | So much for dialogue

How can we approach ministry in a way that offers space to heal from complex trauma? Foundations for trauma-informed ministry: It begins with us, part 2 by Amanda Rigby & Elizabeth Watters   What does this reality of complex trauma mean for us as ministry leaders (and as human beings)? What is particularly important to understand about complex trauma is that there can be many overlapping contributors for any given person, so any number of factors may be at play in the people we encounter—whether we can observe them ourselves or not. Read here

Where can unity be found on the ground? So much for dialogue by William P. Brown   Christians tend to mirror America’s culture wars. Worse, the Christian Bible, the church’s “founding document,” is often deployed to fuel division. James Calvin Davis identified in 2010 the “big four” issues that have divided Christians for many years: abortion, stem-cell research, euthanasia, and gay marriage. One could add climate disruption and white supremacy. Over such issues, Christians have become strangers to each other, even within families. Read here

Where is our center these days? Hardened hearts by Jabe Largen   Far too often these days, it seems like even the clergy offer responses that look and sound and read a lot more hatefully. Many justify their rage by calling it (or at least alluding to it as) “righteous anger.”  Righteous anger can be important, especially for those utilizing a prophetic voice. However, there is a difference between righteous anger and hatred. Read here

Share your insights and learn what you have in common with other leaders. It’s been an unpredictable two years. Tell us what is working well, what’s not working, where you go for help, and what your biggest challenges are. Then receive the report and hear how other pastors are meeting their challenges.   Our purpose here is to help you by creating and providing resources and services you need to accomplish your goals in ministry.  Each survey takes five minutes or less.  We’ll share the results, emailing the report to you after the survey has ended, so that you too can learn more about what is happening today in the broader life of the church. TAKE OUR SURVEY TODAY

Looking ahead to Sunday's lectionary readings Called to be ready for Christ's coming

Elements for what matters most in worship this Sunday

We're looking for congregational leaders like you. Our mission is to offer resources and content that can help you in your work—and we want to know how you are putting those resources to use. We're looking for congregational leaders to review books and other resources for MinistryMatters, helping orient our readers to the resource and explaining how the resource has influenced your practices in ministry. If you are interested in becoming a published reviewer, please contact our editor here.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Not even a pandemic can slow down this 60-member church

Even during the depths of the pandemic, Louisville’s Beechmont Presbyterian Church got to work meeting asylees’ educational needs

August 3, 2022

The Rev. Debbie Braaksma, bottom, was the guest of Dr. Bill McConnell and the Rev. Emily Enders Odom on Between Two Pulpits. (Screenshot)

When it came time to minister to the families of recent asylees from Central America, it turns out a global pandemic was no match for the 60 or so members and friends of Beechmont Presbyterian Church in Louisville.

From the outset of the Covid pandemic — even during the months before lifesaving vaccines were widely available — a core of at least 15 volunteers has been working with immigrant children to help boost the nontraditional instruction they were receiving from their teachers. The Rev. Debbie Braaksma, who retired after serving as the Africa area coordinator for Presbyterian World Mission, appeared recently on Between Two Pulpits, a weekly broadcast put on by Special Offerings and hosted that week by Dr. Bill McConnell and the Rev. Emily Enders Odom. Watch their conversation with Braaksma here.

A church that reflects its diverse community, Beechmont heeded the call from the Rev. Elmer Zavala to put together a program to aid people from Honduras seeking asylum, said Braaksma, a parish associate at Beechmont. Zavala helped to identify the families with the most need, and Beechmont opened The Learning Hub, which, during the worst months of the pandemic, ministered to children five days per week.

“We said, ‘This is an essential service. We aren’t vaccinated, but we are going to make sure these kids will receive academic, social and spiritual support — and just have fun together,’” Braaksma said, adding that the children had spent many weeks “cooped up in their homes.” That morphed into a summer program in 2021, then returned to its school year programming after parents asked organizers to continue working with their children.

The program now serves 20 children. “It is very much a work of faith,” Braaksma told McConnell and Odom. “We said we are making the road as we are walking. … Pastor Elmer says it’s these kids’ salvation. We have developed good relationships with them and their families, and we do intensive case management with the families. It’s exciting and it’s hard, but it’s our calling.”

The Learning Hub was also awarded a grant from the PC(USA)’s Educate a Child, Transform the World program, which is supported by gifts to the Pentecost Offering.

“It’s pretty much an all-voluntary staff, but we have transportation, snack and program expense needs,” Braaksma said. “I worked with that program internally for many years. It’s nice to do the work on both sides of the water.”

Braaksma said many families with whom volunteers work “have gone through a brutal asylum experience. They are really in survival mode. They have to be. Many were marginalized in their own society and cheated out of a good education.” Now that they’re in the United States, many “aren’t able to provide the extra things you would want for your kids. They might be working three part-time jobs and they don’t know the language. Some of our parents have early elementary education and have been traumatized, and we have kids who have experienced a lot of brutality.”

Beechmont volunteers do trauma healing work with children and “help parents to understand what trauma with their children looks like,” Braaksma said.

Once a month, children and families are taken somewhere fun, such as the Louisville Zoo. “I am getting really good at asking for volunteers and for organizations to give us free tickets,” Braaksma said.

Asked which lectionary passage she’d select if she were preaching this coming Sunday, Braaksma immediately went to John 20:19–31, which includes the confession of the disciple we know today as Doubting Thomas.

“I think about Doubting Thomas and the way that when we saw this need among us, it was kind of scary,” Braaksma said. “Dealing with the pandemic was hard, and we were bringing a bunch of kids into church during the pandemic.”

“There were times we doubted, but what motivated us so much is the fact that Elmer is so active in the church.” In worship during the prayers of the people, Zavala would “share stories of what families from Honduras were going through. I think his stories helped us overcome the doubt. We realized we had to do something and to look at what God could do and not just what we could do.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Lucy Bryant, Manager, Online Services, Presbyterian Foundation
Monica Buonincontri, Director, Enterprise Marketing, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

O God, our hope is in you, the One who protects all who are vulnerable. Invite us into your sacred work and strengthen us in doing it. For we ask it in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - ‘The sensitivity of the people I met for these refugees was just really impressive’

Checking in with global partners in Eastern Europe coping with the refugees fleeing Ukraine

August 2,  2022

Following worship, the Evangelical Reformed Church of Poland held a fundraising concert to aid refugees. (Photo by Ellen Smith)

Ellen Smith, World Mission’s regional liaison for Eastern Europe, recently returned from a visit with partners in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland to see firsthand how they are coping with the enormous task of caring for refugees fleeing Ukraine and how the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) can accompany them.

“What I saw was heart-wrenching, but also filled me with hope,” she said. “I saw ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They were completely overwhelmed, but receiving people with open hearts, compassion and love. No one had an abundance of resources, but they were focused on what they could do by working together.”

After landing in Berlin, she took a train to Bonn, Germany where she met with an Orthodox theologian from Minsk. The theologian is living in Germany while finishing her doctoral degree and spoke last year to the BURM (Belarus Ukraine Russia Poland) Mission Network about the ongoing unrest in Belarus. Smith said she is part of a network of people working together to help Ukrainians in exile. With her extensive contacts, she was able to give Smith a true picture of what is happening on the ground.

The theologian is one of several involved in reconciliation and peacemaking in Ukraine, people who are “deeply wise, deeply compassionate.” She said even though the war has caused them to scatter, they continue to stay in touch and look for ways to help.

Smith said she was impressed with the way Germans are handling the large influx of refugees.

“The Germans are receiving people with compassion,” said Smith. “They’re very organized, and that’s wonderful. And they’re very protective. There were signs in Russian and Ukrainian everywhere. They were doing a great job, but they’re overwhelmed.”

Deutsche Bahn, the German train system, is offering free tickets to Ukrainians for any destination in Germany they choose.

Smith, who lived with her family in Russia for a decade, worries about friends who are part of the Moscow patriarchy in Ukraine because they think of themselves as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchy, not as Russian Orthodox. She said they are the subject of hate now due to association.

“It’s sad because their metropolitan came out more boldly than anyone against the war and called on Russia to withdraw. “I don’t know if there will ever be enough forgiveness. They are just under the patriarchy. It’s just so painful for me, personally, because there are people I care about in that church and in other churches.”

Ellen Smith

In Prague, Smith met with members of the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren, a PC(USA) global partner. Although small in area, the Czech Republic has received 300,000 refugees. By dispersing refugees into smaller places, they have been able to provide emergency shelter, but realize it’s only a temporary solution. They have begun thinking ahead to long-term shelter solutions, realizing there is no end in sight for the conflict.

“The refugees are women and children and the elderly, a very vulnerable group,” said Smith. “They realize it is important to take good care of them and protect them. Often, the refugees are confused, and not sure what to do. The men have stayed behind to fight.”

Smith met a young volunteer in charge of fundraising for ECCB who spearheaded a special fund drive to buy toys and games to keep children occupied while their parents are being registered. They often have to wait in line for hours. They also had to find 400 volunteers, far beyond ECCB’s capacity, so they reached out to every church and civic organization all over the country, and they got the 400 volunteers and a huge number of needed emergency supplies.

“The sensitivity of the people I met for these refugees and watching them and caring for them and understanding their needs was just really impressive,” said Smith. “They were phenomenal.”

Smith said these churches are small without a lot of capacity, but they have been creative about finding ways to help. One church that previously operated a day care has opened its doors to educate Ukrainian children. Churches around the country have opened their doors to refugees and church members are taking refugees into their homes.

Kathy Melvin, Former Director of Mission Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Vernon Broyles, Volunteer, Office of the General Assembly
Laura Bryan, Coordinator, Financial Aid for Service, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Today we pray for all those who have been forced to leave their homes, their homelands and all they hold dear that you may grant them safe passage, wisdom and courage. And we pray for host communities around the world to have open hearts and eyes to see God’s servants in the faces of those seeking refuge. In the name of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Addressing domestic violence from the pulpit

Hispanic/Latino-a Ministry equips pastors with needed tools and resources

August 1, 2022

Photo by Jason Leung via Unsplash

Many readers know of someone in their family, congregation or community who has been impacted by domestic violence in one way or another. To address the topic that is not often discussed or preached from many pulpits on Sunday mornings, the Hispanic/Latino-a Intercultural Congregational Support Ministry created the Gospel, Pastoral Care, and Domestic Violence series, an educational encounter series that addresses domestic violence and the faith community.

“This is a conversation that started with a group of women, pastors, ministers, elders, commissioned elders in Puerto Rico, along with some Presbyterian Mission Agency staff last year,” said the Rev. Rosa Blanca Miranda, Associate for Hispanic/Latino-a Intercultural Congregational Support. “With Covid, people were forced to be in the house together without being able to go out. Domestic violence increased in communities and within families. There was silence. This is something that has been part of a stereotype within the Latin community. But domestic violence goes across cultures, countries and families.”

A 2021 report by the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice shows that domestic violence incidents in the U.S. increased by 8.1% following the imposition of lockdown orders during the 2020 portion of the pandemic.

The Council on Criminal Justice findings are based on a systematic review of multiple U.S. and international studies that compared changes in the number of domestic violence incidents before and after jurisdictions began imposing stay-at-home restrictions in 2020. The studies draw on a wide range of data, from logs of police calls for service to domestic violence crime reports, emergency hotline registries, health records and other administrative documents.

The four-session event began in March in support of Women’s History Month. Forty-two leaders in the Hispanic church community committed to participate every Tuesday. “I was so glad to see that we didn’t lose anyone,” said Miranda. “They were there every single time. And even though this a time to talk about domestic violence and violence against women, at the end we could open up to talk about other violence in a broader way.”

“The church cannot continue to be silent on the issue of domestic violence,” said Miranda. “Like the women in Puerto Rico, they couldn’t be silent any longer. Something needed to be done.”

In 2021 the Presbiterio de San Juan issued an open letter calling on the Church to “unite our voices against gender-based violence in Puerto Rico both in public demonstrations and from our pulpits.”

“That’s why this event was sponsored by the Hispanic/Latino-a Intercultural Congregational Support office,” Miranda said.

the Rev. Rosa Blanca Miranda

According to Miranda, one of the goals of the weekly educational encounters was to offer a safe space to talk about issues such as how churches can become safe spaces for healing.

“This is a safe space to feel uncomfortable, but we are going to talk about those topics that need to be addressed from the pulpit ― from Bible study, from counseling, from any way possible in our faith communities,” she said.

“We’re going to open up our faith communities and include everyone and every person that suffers from violence and see that person as a child of God ― not in a judgmental way, because that’s not what we are called to do,” said Miranda. “These were rich presentations, but also it was a place where leaders opened up to talk in a deeper way. My prayer is that we may be able to speak freely and sponsor an event in which we could not only talk about the violence against women, but violence against the LGBTQIA community as well, or at least how our faith communities can be or become safe spaces ― welcoming, radical welcoming places for communities or churches for all our siblings.”

For additional information on domestic violence in the Hispanic community, Miranda says her ministry partnered with CEDEPCA, the Protestant Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America. CEDEPCA is an educational institution that contributes to the transformation of lives and contexts by providing training and accompaniment and by offering spaces for reflection to women and men from diverse Christian traditions, communities and contexts.

Click here for resources as well as the videos of the Encuentros Educativos (Educational Meetings) presentations.

Gail Strange, Director of Church and Mid Council Communications, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Lorraine Brown, Associate for Finance & Building Operations, Presbyterian Historical Society
Andrew Browne, Senior Vice President, Church Relations, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

God of grace, we thank you for your love. Help us create life-giving patterns of community and make us instruments of your peace. In the name of Jesus Christ, who came so we might have life in all of its fullness. Amen.